Saturday, 30 November 2013

I have always dreaded the subject of math. When i finished high school, i was ecstatic that i would have nothing to do with this subject. But my euphoric state didn't last too long as i had to encounter the subject once again in school, but this time as a teacher. Well it hasn't been an easy journey :) but kindergarten math is definitely more enjoyable than high school math.
Bringing in the fun element in math lessons can be challenging and i am always looking for hands on activities to get my children excited about the subject. But surprisingly all children perform extremely well in mathematics compared to other subjects.
My school works with a non profit organization called Jodogyan which helps in designing innovative curriculum for mathematics. I owe a lot of my own learning about teaching math to them. You could visit their web site for more information: http://jodogyan.org/
In this post i am going to share one to one correspondence activities that i do with my kids. Some of them have been devised by me and the others are the ones i have learnt while working with Jodogyan. Most of them are small group activities. When parents ask me how they can recapitulate concepts at home, i always recommend them to try out the ones that we do during center time as children are more engaged and it works better than worksheets.

In this activity, numbers and corresponding number of dots are written on flip flops. Children read the number and match them to the flip flop with dots.

In this activity, children count the holes in the apples and put corresponding number of pipe cleaners as worms.

In the button jar activity, children look at the number on the jar and place buttons accordingly.

Children count the buttons on the shirt and clip clothespin

This is a simple number chart. Children look at the number and use various manipulatives to count.

This is a number game which children play in pairs. They roll the dice and put the corresponding number of foam plugs on the train.

Numbers are given to the children. They count the beads and string them to make bead necklaces.

This game is played in a large group. Different patterns are made for children to decorate with uni fix cubes.

Number dot cards are given to children to count and match.

I will soon do another post on how i do counting of numbers and number recognition with my kids.

Thursday, 28 November 2013

I am going to share the names of few books that i read with my children during the unit of sea animals.

Commotion in the ocean was used to introduce the topic. The book has rhyming words and colorful illustrations.
Rainbow fish by Marcus Pfister and Swimmy by Leo Lionni are always liked by students. These books can also be used to talk about concepts of sharing and group work.
Any book by Eric Carle is a huge hit in my class. We read A house for the Hermit Crab and Mr Seahorse.

As a follow up activity, children made their own crafts.

We also did a reading of non-fictional books by scholastic. Children loved exploring the books on killer whales, dolphins and sharks.

I felt the content of these books were meant for the age group of 6-8 years. However the illustrations were great and language can always be modified for young children.
If you would like to purchase these books in India, you could go to Flip kart.com

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

I have always found the sea and the world under the sea fascinating. Living in a land locked city all most all my life, i never got to experience the joy of being near the ocean. I was 18, when i first visited Mumbai and got the first exposure of the sea. It was a wonderful experience which i really can't put in words but i know that when i am near the sea i am the happiest person on Planet Earth. The smooth sand, the expanse of the ocean,the sound of the waves, i love everything about the ocean. I have had an opportunity to be on many beaches across the world since my first experience. And each one has been special.

Since i have been so verbose about my love for the ocean , it is but obvious that when it comes to teaching the unit of sea animals in class i am always over the moon. It is my favorite unit and my kids enjoy learning it it as much as i enjoy teaching it.

I completed the unit last month in my class and it was a great success. My little ones picked up vocabulary like "Crustacean"," Mammals","Sea weed", "corals" and many more words which honestly i did not expect them to learn. I had purchased the ocean unit by Deanna Jump. It had some wonderful information and templates.

I am sharing some pictures of how the unit turned out in my class.

We talked about parts of a fish and named few fishes that we knew. The most common one was the clown fish. Thanks to 'Finding Nemo' ! :)

We talked about sharks. It sure got the boys super excited!!

Children also sang the five little sharks song and enacted it using stick puppets.

I made some animal charts-few had facts and others had wordings from the book called commotion in the ocean. We used these to read and circle sight words done in class.

We talked about jelly fish and Octopus and children made their own crafts

I made a mural on the back wall of my class. It consists of all the craft that children did related to the unit.

I also hung a fishing net, which i proudly procured from Cochin,one of my beach destinations. :)

We also talked about pirates and did a little role play. Children wore pirate hats and loved saying "ARGH"

We rounded up the unit by doing a graph on favorite sea animals

I will do another post of the books we read on the topic and will share some worksheets which the children did as a recap.

Saturday, 23 November 2013

After years of contemplating to write my own blog about something that I am so passionate about, I finally decided to start today. I don't have valid reasons for procrastinating for so long, maybe I was too busy reading other people's blogs and collecting ideas on Pinterest... :) but as the saying goes it's never too late . The reason why I am doing a blog is because I feel there is so much one can do as an educator. Especially in the field of early childhood education. These are the most fundamental years of learning and as educators there is a huge responsibility to lay a strong foundation.
I have always taken to books and the internet to see how i can make learning fun for my sweet kids. And there are a plethora of ideas out there. There are wonderful teachers across the globe who have inspired me especially Deanna Jump who kinda introduced me to the world of blogging. I owe a lot of my learning to her. I am also a huge follower of blogs named kinder gals and kinder by Kim . It is through these blogs, that I have picked up great ideas which i implemented in my classroom. Motivation and inspiration is always required in our field and it is through sharing that it happens.
Through my blog I would like to share ideas and lessons which I do with my kindergartens and also create lessons which might be useful to other educators, parents and anybody who deals with little children. Pardon me if I ramble about some other things apart from teaching :) I will come back with ideas on my favorite unit -sea animals.

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About Me

I am an educator who has taught kindergarten for 11 years and love every moment of it. I started this blog to share ideas with educators and parents and to help make learning fun and exciting for children. Apart from being a passionate teacher, I am also a beach lover, a coffee addict, a book junkie and an avid traveler. I would have been consumed by wanderlust had I not taken the plunge into the world of teaching. My life and work is pretty much determined by a beautiful quote by Maya Angelou, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."